Assistive Technologies Supporting Diverse Student Needs

This course is a broad overview of assistive technologies commonly being introduced into school and online learning settings to empower and support persons with varied physical and learning disabilities. The focus is on reaching all learners through incorporating the appropriate use of augmentative and alternative communication and other assistive technologies and applying the effective instructional methodology to address the needs of diverse learners. This course will provide opportunities to learn about assistive technology for students with disabilities and the integration of technology into teaching and learning. Students will explore types of assistive technologies, functional assessments, and resources available to learners in technology mediated environments. A variety of assistive technologies ranging from low to high tech will be evaluated. Students will learn to apply a process for problem-solving during the selection of appropriate tools to meet individual student needs. Students will conduct literature-based research to explore these topics and propose an implementation of an assistive technology that has the purpose of addressing a selected disability or group of disabilities.